MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Neither your grandma nor your government is safe from phishing scams.
How it happened
The city of Memphis mistakenly wired $773K to a bad actor more than two years ago, according to a statement sent to FOX13.
“They should have given it to me,” laughed Kaytivo Golden, a Binghampton taxpayer. “I’m in the city. Why not just give me the money?”
“I can’t say it’s surprising, but it’s disappointing,” said Sam Shoemaker, an east Memphis resident.
After receiving “a request from who they believed to be Zellner Construction,” staffers mistakenly changed accounted detailed and wired $773K to an account that did not belong to the construction company, according to the request.
“They were outside the window to retrieve funds when the mistake was realized,” the statement read.
Who can be held accountable?
According to the city, an employee in accounts payable made the mistake. FOX13 asked why this was not reported to the public immediately and whether this mistake had happened at any other time. The city has yet to respond to those specific questions.
“Are they going to be held accountable for that?” asked Tonya Eubanks, another taxpayer.
“It surprised me that there were not other policies in place to catch the situation that happened,” said Jeff Horton, a cybersecurity professional and owner of One Point Solutions Group.
FOX13 dug deeper – seeking answers from the prior administration. Then-Mayor Jim Strickland did not return requests for comment.
Doug McGowen, the current CEO for MLGW, was the city’s chief operating officer during the mistake.
When FOX13 asked McGowen for comment, a spokeswoman for MLGW wrote, “Please reach out to the city of Memphis.”
Protect your finances
Anyone can be a victim of a phishing scam.
“There’s nothing new under the sun,” said Melanie Suria, another cybersecurity professional and the owner of Memphis Computer Support. “I mean, honestly, this is happening everywhere.”
A scammer can impersonate your loved one, your bank, your favorite store or the police department.
“Everybody is vulnerable,” Suria said.
If you get a suspicious call, email or text, stop the communication and call that person or business directly.
When Golden gets a suspicious email, he said he moves it to the trash right away.
“I just don’t even open it,” he said. “Don’t click it.”
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